The Godmother

February 19, 1989|By RICHARD SMITTEN

Highly respected by his fellow DEA officers, Palombo gets personal satisfaction from putting dopers behind bars. But Griselda Blanco was more than a doper: she was the personification of something Palombo could never quite put his finger on, something intrinsically evil. He became obsessed with catching her.

Although many DEA agents were involved in the Blanco investigation, it was Palombo who provided the thread of continuity; he was the official case agent for 2 1/2 years, and even as the locations in the chase changed from New York City to Miami and eventually to Los Angeles, it was always Palombo who stayed on the trail like a hunter on a blood spoor.

He was there in New York in 1973 when Griselda Blanco`s name first appeared. He worked Operation Banshee until 1975, when the 39 indictments were issued and Griselda, the elusive butterfly, fled to Colombia.

In the early `80s, he was transferred to Miami, and in 1983, he was there when the DEA launched Operation Los Ninos (The Sons), and the hunt for Griselda Blanco`s boys began in earnest.

Through a confidential informant, the DEA had gotten word that there were some young men in Miami who were living a very flamboyant lifestyle.

DEA agents tracked one of them, Uber Trujillo Blanco, to an apartment at Turnberry Isle. The agents put the apartment under surveillance, but a parking lot attendant tipped Uber off that he was being watched and, along with his brothers, he disappeared.

The agents now had no leads and the DEA almost shut the case down. But Palombo and Bill Mockler, the Miami special agent in charge, persisted, and in March 1984 they got their first break.

It came in the form of a handsome, debonair Colombian named Gerry Gomez. Gomez was doing 10 years in an Oklahoma prison for a narcotics violation. He volunteered his services as a confidential informant in return for a lighter sentence, and the chase started up again.

Gomez was an ex-Merchant Marine sailor, a pilot and a mechanic. He had owned a speed-shop garage in Medellin, where he had serviced the cars and motorcycles of the Blanco family. He had known Griselda and her sons since they were small boys, and they trusted him.

Gomez also had a place to start: San Francisco. A friend`s sister was living in that city with Dixon Trujillo Blanco, Griselda`s oldest son, and Gomez had her phone number.

After discussions with the DEA, Gomez called Dixon Blanco and explained that he was buying and selling aircraft, and had money-laundering capabilities. Dixon asked him to fly out to California so they could talk.

Gomez met with Dixon in San Francisco. Unexpectedly, Osvaldo also showed up, and the two Blanco boys asked Gomez if he could launder some money for them right away. At this time, the boys played down the role of their mother.

``She`s kind of retired,`` they told Gomez. ``She`s living in Miami, and we`ve taken over the business.``

It was bravado talk. Gomez returned to Miami and shortly afterward he got the call the DEA agents were hoping for.

Bob Palombo recalls the incident: ``All of a sudden Gomez gets a call from Los Angeles -- and it`s Griselda herself. She orders Gomez to pick up $40,000 from a guy in Miami, then fly to L.A. the next day and pick up a half-million dollars from her. Gomez was to meet her in the Marriott hotel in Newport Beach. Griselda and her sons apparently wanted to test Gomez` money-laundering capabilities.``

When Gomez caught the flight to Los Angeles the following day, Palombo and several other DEA agents were also on the plane.

``On May 30, 1984,`` Palombo recalls, ``we placed ourselves strategically in the Marriott hotel lobby so that we could watch Gomez. We waited and waited -- and then, suddenly, Griselda appeared. She was wearing a wig, a cape, a smart dress and high heels, but she was easily recognizable because of her dimples and cleft chin.``

For Palombo, it was a memorable moment. He and agent Dan Moritz were close enough to reach out and grab the infamous La Madrina. But they didn`t because their orders were to play it out and see where Griselda would lead them.

That night Gerry Gomez picked up $500,000 from Griselda and the next day drove to San Francisco, where he picked up $25,000 more from Dixon Blanco.

But apparently, Griselda was still not convinced of Gomez` credibility. Like a will-o`-the-wisp, she disappeared again, sporadically contacting Gomez and leaving public telephone numbers in California where he could call her back.

The DEA was determined to keep on her trail. With the phone company`s assistance, the agents began to track the telephone booths that Griselda was using. Helped by the Newport Beach police, they narrowed down the area to Irvine, a city a few miles from Newport Beach in Orange County, Calif.

Shortly afterward, the Newport Beach police reported to the DEA that they were investigating a group of suspicious Colombians. These Colombians were immediately put under surveillance by Bob Palombo.